Making this thread just to express my opinion on laverne.

i dont watch orange is the new black but i follow her on twitter and i keep up with her talk show interviews and i watched one of her speeches before.

i find her to be so inspiring and i think the best part about everything that she is doing is that all of this is coming first hand from a transgender woman, instead of some random popstar or political figure being like 'yeah i accept trans people so should everyone else' , we have a trans woman of color going out there and not only making her dreams happen but also raising awareness towards the HUGE issues that trans people are facing everyday.

she is also being taken seriously and being respected as an actress and not being seen as some 'freak' or a laughing stock, something that trans people are usually victim of.

I'm not familiar with her much and nor have I seen her act but this is what makes me happy for her is that she's so good she's getting respect for her talent or her contribution and whilst people are making a big deal "she's a transgender" isn't everything you hear when it comes to her.

About time she got a thread

You should definitely see her in OITNB - she's amazing

she's cool. i remember seeing her on that P.Diddy executive show or whatever.

exactly, she is proving that trans people can be seen as respected actresses and doing other things within the hollywood industry. she is definitely a barrier breaker

Exactly. And this is what truly reaches people. My family is Southern Baptist and Cam & Mitch have completely changed the way my dad sees gay people just by being normal (for media standards), likeable gay men. I have a good feeling that those Modern Family characters were like that for a lot of people. The reason I brought that up is because I fully believe Laverne will be the same way, only representative of the trans community. While she never lets her identity solely define her instead of her talent, she never brushes it under the rug and tries to hide it. I think America's opinion on trans people will be drastically different just in the course of five years and she is a huge part of that.

i hope so. im always concerned with transgender rights.. they have it the worst. being gay is one thing to the world's eyes, but not identifying with the gender that you were born with is way more taboo to most people. gays have been moving forward more rapidly the past decade, now i hope the transgender movements gains speed after laverne's breakthrough.

She is such a perfect role model for the trans community. Intelligent, likable, talented and much more. I'm very happy for them.

I love her so much. Everything about her is just so effortless. She just like... floats like a little angel.